NEET 2018 paper analysis: Physics was tough, chemistry, bio easy, say students

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2018 took place on May 6, Sunday, from 10am to 1pm. More than 13.3 lakh students had registered for the exams to compete for the 66,000 seats in medical and dental colleges across the country.

The exam consisted of one paper containing 180 objective type questions from Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Direct questions from NCERT books in Biology and Chemistry sections helped save time, but lengthy, numerical and conceptual questions in Physics section took up almost 50% of the time.

A student celebrates with her father after taking her the NEET 2018 in Bhopal. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo)

Shristhi Sharma, student of ST Montfort School in Bhopal, said, “I found some questions directly from guides which I preferred for the preparation. Barring physics, the paper was too easy.”

Maharishi Vidhya Mandir School student, Prabhat Singh Baghel said, “The pattern of the paper was same as that of last year. I am expecting a good score as I did well in Physics, which was tricky.”

Manasvi Chaturvedi from a Sagar district said, “I didn’t prepare much for NEET, but I found many questions from NCERT books. I felt like some direct lines were taken from the book to frame questions.”

Most candidates found Physics tougher than Biology, but a few found the Physics segment to be fine. “Physics for me was very easy. In fact, the paper was not lengthy. So I was able to revise the difficult options too,” said Ishita Tripathi, another candidate from the same centre.

Priyanka Singh, who took the entrance test at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Aliganj, said she did not attempt about 20 question fearing minus marking that could spoil her results. “For me, biology questions were easy,” she said.

Ravi Kumar Gupta, who also took the test at the same school, said he left about 30 questions unanswered. “The tough ones could not be answered, but the overall paper was good and we had appropriate time to read and answer all.”

In Jammu too, the students felt the Physics paper had been tough. “I am hopeful of getting through. Moreover, my interest is only getting medical education,” Aftab Ahmed said.

Pragati Kumari Jhan from Patna said, “The paper was tougher than last year. However, some questions from previous years’ papers were also asked this time.”

Maharashtra witnessed the highest number of candidates for NEET this year with over 1.83 lakh students registering for the exam.

Students leave an exam centre in Bhopal after appearing for NEET 2018. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo)

Here too, most students felt that biology was easy and chemistry and physics difficult.

“The Physics section was based on calculation and thus it was time-consuming,” said Bhaumik Patel, a student. He added that a few questions were directly from the NCERT textbook.

Students at some centres in Mumbai complained that exam officials had not been well prepared.

“The process of checking biometric finger prints of students should be done before the exam begins, because students reach almost two hours before exam. However, at some centres, the staff began taking biometric finger prints once the exam began, wasting a good 10 to 15 minutes of the students’ time,” said a parent at a centre in Malad.

All exam centres in Maharashtra strictly followed the reporting time deadline. No student was allowed into the exam centre after 9.30am.

“We saw two students reach the school gate at 9:32am, but the security did not allow them inside. Both students were coming from distant places and had gotten stuck in traffic, which caused the delay,” said Aarti Mhatre, parent of a NEET candidate, at the exam centre in Colaba. In Chandigarh, too, late-comers were not allowed to sit for the exam.

Anirban Bose of Howrah Zilla School in Kolkata said, “I cannot say that I am 100% satisfied. Some of the questions in the biology paper was were quite difficult. But I tried my best. Though I am hopeful of cracking the examination, I am keeping my fingers crossed. But I will relax today and spend time with my friends.”

Tannishtha Das, of South Point High School, Kolkata, said though some questions were tricky, she managed to answer them. “Though I am confident of cracking the examination, what I am worried of is the ranking,” she said, adding that she planned to spend the rest of the day with her family.

– With inputs from Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri in Kolkata, Shruti Tomar in Bhopal, Shreya Bhandary in Mumbai, Gaurav Saigal in Lucknow, Nandini in Patna.